After three VERY busy days, we decided to use Wednesday as a down day. You know, get up late, chill by the pool, go to the spa sort of day. So that's exactly what we did. Late in the afternoon we took a tuk tuk into the old city to go get a Thai massage at Fah Lanna Spa and it was fantastic! The spa is a little oasis and so relaxing! I wish I had taken photos inside, but no such luck as I was focused on relaxation:). Daniel had a traditional thai massage and I had an hour long oil aromatherapy massage. It was Dan's first time getting a massage, thus it was quite an "interesting" experience for him (I'll let you ask him about it) but he said he enjoyed it and massages in Thailand are pretty darn cheap! Later that night we had a nice dinner at the Riverside Bar and Grill right by, you guessed it, the river! By the time we left around 8:30, the place was packed!
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| Daniel's first spa visit! |
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| At Fah Lanna...a fantastic little retreat! |
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| Cool statues at the spa |
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| Night time river view |
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| Docked river boat |
On Thursday, we were rested and ready to hit the ground running again. Our plan was to take a taxi about 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai city to Mae rim to the Tiger Kingdom. Yes, we were going to play with live tigers. Apparently we like to walk on the wild side every now and then! Either that or we're just crazy. The staff at the hotel were fantastic and arranged a taxi for us while we ate breakfast and by 9:30am we were speeding through the city towards the Tiger Kindgom. We arrived shortly after 10:00 and pondered the options for visiting the tigers. There are four different "sizes" of tigers you can choose from: smallest (2-3 months old), small (4-8 months), medium (9-12 months), and large (1-2.5 years). We had originally planned to visit the littlest and biggest tigers, but as soon as we arrived and Daniel saw the big guys he said (and I quote), "There's no way I'm going in there with the big tigers." So, we opted for the three pack which included smallest, small, and medium sized tigers plus payed to have a photographer accompany us into all three enclosures to take photos so we could have our hands free (Note: I wanted to make sure I wasn't distracted taking pictures in the case that one of the tigers decided to sneak up behind and make a meal out of me--he could have the photographer instead!!).
We started off visiting the smallest tigers and they won me over straight away. You only get about 10 minutes in the enclosure with them and you go in wearing special sandals so you don't contaminate anything. Boy are those little guys adorable! They have soft fur and are quite playful if they aren't sleeping! Yes, they have sharp little teeth which I was careful to avoid!
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| Daniel's first encounter with a little tiger, who looked like he was about to pounce! |
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| A much calmer little tiger during my photos |
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| This little tiger was taking a nap during our visit so we snuggled right up to him |
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| Awww.... |
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| Looking chill |
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| Going the way of the tiger...ZZZZZZZ |
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| Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur, happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr:) |
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| This tiger was even younger than the rest! |
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| Roar! |
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This picture was taken AFTER the little tiger gnawed on his trainer's leg so I was keeping my distance.
Notice him eyeing me--come play! |
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One of my favorite pictures from the day because Daniel and I were together with this cute little guy.
Unfortunately he was so sleepy we had to help him hold his head up! |
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| Tiger smootch! |
From there we visited the next size up. They were a bit more demure unless they were interacting with each other. The rule for these guys was to always approach from the back and to put pressure on them by literally leaning on them so they knew you were there. You were told never to touch their front paws or head as they'd think you wanted to play. Noted! Nice kitties!
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| Double trouble! |
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| Nice kitty! He even looks like he's smiling a little for the camera:). |
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| The photographer kept telling us to roar, so we did. |
Finally, we visited the medium cats. These guys looked pretty big to me! They were a bit more active than the "small" cats. The trainers help to rouse them so you get more interesting photos and at one point, the trainer dangled a bamboo pole with a dried banana leaf hanging from it. The tiger he was trying to attract for me made short work of that and tore the banana leaf from the pole, quickly ripping it to shreds. Gulp! A few minutes later, Dan and I were standing behind a tiger that was perched on a log making funny roaring gestures. Suddenly our tiger friend hopped up and decided to go on the move. You should have seen the look on our faces--I think the photographer got a picture of us backing off rapidly to give the tiger his space.
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| This tiger is just "medium" sized, but I'd say he means business |
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| Hmmm...looking for a snack or just happy to meet a new friend? |
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| Awww, nice tiger |
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| This tiger was preoccupied with something while I took this photo...but not for long |
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| Uh oh, toy gone! |
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| See ya suckers! |
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| Play time! Definitely not going to be inviting those guys over for a photo. |
Visiting the tiger kingdom was an interesting experience and I'm pretty positive I will NEVER be this close to a tiger again in my lifetime, but I'm not sure how I feel about keeping wild animals like this in captivity. In times like this when beautiful animals are being poached for their fur I understand why places like Tiger Kingdom exist in terms of conservation and breeding, however, I'm not sure about the tourist gimmick aspect. By the way, I saw some fairly newborn tiger babies that were probably less than a month old and they were too cute for words! I do know that the tigers are well treated, well fed, and not drugged, however, by the time we left there were scads of people showing up and I was happy we had done our thing when the place was relatively quiet.
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| Teeny tiny baby tigers! |
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| I just wanted to hop in there and hug them! |
From the Tiger Kingdom our taxi driver (who waited so patiently for us) drove us to the Umbrella Village where silk umbrellas are made and painted by master artisans. It was so fun to see the vibrant colors of the umbrellas and talented artists at work. When they weren't busy with a project, the artists would paint various designs on your found items--bags, shirts, phone cases...you name it, they would paint on it for you! A sweet man painted a lovely flower on my camera bag for me:). Daniel also had a few things painted while we watched; what talent!
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| Amazing colors and umbrellas at the Umbrella Village |
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| Beautiful umbrella paintings |
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| The artists will gladly paint designs on your items so I had a flower painted on my bag. |
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| My finished bag and the artist who painted it! |
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| I love the bright colors! |
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| A GIANT umbrella and the gorgeous design. |
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| Umbrellas everywhere! |
Once back at the hotel we decided to venture into the old city to search for the Amazing Sandwich shop for lunch. Sadly, my Lonely Planet failed us as the location of the shop changed over 8 years ago. So, we opted for an old favorite instead--Starbucks! It was a VERY warm day, so a blended beverage and pastry hit the spot, as did some very welcome air conditioning! After lunch we took a tuk tuk to the flower market, which was located near the river. It was fun to see so many cool tropical flowers and bright colors displayed in numerous stalls. The flower market is also right near Chinatown so we scoped out the gate at the entrance before grabbing a red car back to our hotel.
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| The Tha Phae Gate in Old Town Chiang Mai |
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| The view from inside a tuk tuk |
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| The city moat |
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| Don't drink and swim in the moat....every year someone drowns in there! |
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| First impression of the flower market |
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| Small orchids |
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| Birds of paradise |
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| Offerings for the temples |
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| Chinatown shrine |
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| An abandoned tuk tuk just waiting to have its photo taken! |
We had an early dinner at the hotel restaurant (they made delicious pad thai and pineapple fried rice), then headed out for a special evening treat. I had booked us on an evening tour of the city through a company called Untouched Thailand. We were going to see Chiang Mai at night by tuk tuk! Although we had seen many of the key sights on our segway tour, we didn't learn much of the history of the city and this tour was perfect for that. Plus, cities always look different at night and it is super cool to see temples and monuments illuminated!
Siphon, our guide, met us at our hotel with our tuk tuk and driver around 6:30pm and we sped off toward the city. It's hard to describe the sensation of riding in a tuk tuk, but you certainly feel the wind in your hair! Our first stop was most definitely the best of the night! We wove our way through the backstreets of Chiang Mai to the most incredible temple I have ever seen. The silver temple is part of Wat Sri Supan and is absolutely stunning. What's even better is that you can watch the silver smiths at work on the adornments that cover the exterior just next door. My photos don't do this amazing piece of architecture justice! Unfortunately women aren't allowed to enter the temple seeing that we are unclean because of our monthly cycle (hmm....), so I had to rely on Daniel to take pictures inside. As we walked through the complex, Siphon talked to us about the monks who lived there and what it was like to be a monk in Thailand. He spoke from 18 years of experience of life as a monk, and what a life it was! He has now lived life on the outside for more than 15 years and has had many jobs (including driving a tuk tuk) so he could provide some amazing perspective on what it was like to live such a strict life as a servant of Buddha. I'm absolutely certain I would not have the discipline to survive, especially not being able to eat after noon! It seems that life as a monk has become a bit more relaxed than it once was as I saw several men in orange cloth talking on mobile phones, but it certainly is a calling that isn't for everyone.
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| These tuk tuks went speeding by--friends racing each other! |
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| A close up of a tuk tuk from behind |
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| A novice monk creating silver adornments for the temple |
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| A master silversmith also working on a handmade adornment--this piece might take him months |
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| A close up of the work. |
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| A silver buddha. |
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| Just a small piece of the silver temple. |
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| Inside the silver temple...stunning, although a little crooked:) |
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| This was as far as I could peek in--no women allowed. |
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| A side view of the temple--simply amazing. |
Other stops on our tuk tuk tour including Wat Chedi Luang, which was a beautiful sight illuminated, the three kings monument, a drive around the old city walls, and a very traditional local market. At the market we didn't see a single foreigner or tourist, other than ourselves! Daniel took the opportunity to enjoy the king and queen of Thai fruits--durian and mangosteen. Durian has quite the reputation--people say it, "tastes like heaven but smells like hell." There are even many hotels that won't let you bring the fruit through the door because of the heinous smell! In case you're wondering, he survived!
On the way back to our hotel, we took our tuk tuk for a spin through the night bazaar. It was packed with people, food stalls, and vendors selling all sorts of stuff (from China! our guide told us). We also spotted the ladybird dudes--yep, every city has its very own transvestites dressed up like Las Vegas showgirls. We ended the night with our favorite dessert at the hotel! Only one more day left in Chiang Mai!
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